Openly gay New York police sergeant Michael Fox is claiming a superior officer gave him a negative review because of his sexual orientation, which resulted in Fox losing both his paid leave to pursue a Masters degree and the NYPD scholarship that was paying for his schooling.

Fox is suing to get his leave and funding reinstated.

Before transferring to the West 100th Street station, Fox had received exceptional reviews since joining the force in 1998. But at the 24th precinct house, according to Gothamist, Platoon Commander Lieutenant Roger Lurch felt Fox wasn’t serious about his job and gave him a 2.5 out of 5 rating on his evaluation.

The out officer claims Lurch routinely sneered at him, saying things like “You’re not a real cop,” and “You belong at a desk.” Fox was also allegedly told that someone’s not a “real” cop until he gets complaints of brutality lodged against him, reports the New York Post. “It was clear to me from the beginning that as I had never worked in the same tough precincts as he had, I would never be a ‘real’ cop in Lt. Lurch’s eyes,” says Fox.

But Lurch wasn’t alone in thinking Fox—whose previous experience was mostly administrative—wasn’t up to snuff:

Precinct commanding officer Kathleen O’Reilly said in an affidavit that Fox “exhibited a flippant attitude, stating that in the scheme of things it didn’t matter because his prior evaluations were above standards.”

A judge initially ruled against Fox in December, but he has filed a new suit alleging bias.

It’s pretty easy to prove discrimination when the police force is much less gay than the population.

NY Police force = 36,000

Homosexual population, 6% of NYC = 272493 gays

2160 gay officers?

The actual number of gay police is unknown, but anedotal evidence indicates that is nowhere near representative of the population, and homophobia exists in many departments.

Apr 25, 2012 at 8:10 pm · @Reply ·

Kev C

Divided by 76 precincts, each precinct should have an average of 28 gay police on their force, ideally.

Apr 25, 2012 at 8:20 pm · @Reply ·

J Stratford

Gay Officer Suing NYPD Claims Discrimination LED To Poor Evaluation

Apr 26, 2012 at 12:22 am · @Reply ·

Peter Fitz

I also would question how serious Fox was about his job
I think he was looking for FREE paid leave from his job, plus FREE school tuition
and benefits
Being Gay, is not an excuse to be a FREEloader

Apr 26, 2012 at 4:07 pm · @Reply ·

LOVE A GAY MAN TODAY

it is nice to know there are some good, intelligent and liberal gay officers in the department. if they are at a scene which is obviously against a gay, at least we will have a 50% chance to be defended in court. WHEN MAY I ASK WILL SOCIETY ACCEPT THE MOST LOVING, CARING, INTELLIGENT people in our society. as will rogers once quoted: I NEVER MET A GAY MAN THAT I DID NOT LIKE”. not quite, but you get the gist. COME ON AMERICA, WAKE UP AN SMELL THE COFFEE. we are here to stay and make this world a better place. look at what people do, and don’t judge them on their sexual preference in bed. gay is almost always looked at as having and wanting sex ALL THE TIME. heteros have sex also. START LOVING ONE ANOTHER, NO MATTER SEXUAL TASTES, COLOR OR WHATEVER. and for heaven sake, start electing some intelligent men to the senate and house. oh well, enough for now. FIGHT ON MY GAY BROTHERS AND SISTERS. we are getting there. blacks were so called freed in 1863 when lincoln signed the emancipation proclamation freeing all from salvery and yet their butts are still being kicked. the word for the day, and forever, is ‘LOVE ONE ANOTHER’. life is too short. peace, tom stanton, aiken, s.c.

You know, it really gets tiring and frustrating when folks have to find someone to pick on or take verbal advantage of, in an attempt to downgrade their self-esteem or self-confidence. No matter how far we as gays, lesbians, and transgenders have come inour lives, there are still folks that appear on the scene that show their jealousy and envy against us. It is my hope and prayer that Officer Fox will not allow these actions to get him down and keep on striving.

Its amazing how some people commenting are quick to judge the people involved in this story without knowing either one of these guys. My personal experience after working 20 years with the NYPD as an openly gay cop and later Detective is … there is discrimination on the job. Your foolish to believe it doesn’t exist. Unfortunately the whole system on how cops are promoted to supervisors I believe is partly to blame. Passing a multiple choice test doesn’t give you the skills to be an effective manager. Unfortunately lots of these bosses utilize their supervisory positions to become bullies and make cops lives miserable. I spent 20 years having to deal with this and although half of my career was spent working for good people my last half was spent being bullied and being miserable working for the worst racist, homophobic, bosses I’ve ever had to work for. I never shared my story of nightmares that I’ve experienced but I think now is that time. I am now retired, living in Florida and at a point in my life where I need to share about the truth that goes on behind the scenes within the NYPD. That is of course if anyone really wants to know.